1977
This one is somewhat
known as the Goldfinger of the Roger
Moore years. It’s both where the series
figured out its tone, and increased the quality of story and characters.
The problem with higher
quality films is that they tend to have more exposition and dialogue; and less
goofiness and ridiculous happenings. Therefore,
my daughter found this one kind of dull compared to the previous entries.
She panicked a little
with the introduction of scuba scenes, but it never reached the disinterest
levels that Thunderball did.
The opening scene with
Anya Amasova fooled her - as it was supposed to.
“Of course he’s
Jamesbonding he…oh! That’s not him.”
Discovering 007and his
pre credits lovely in a nearby cottage closed the loop on that pretty quickly:
“Aaaaand there it is.”
The ski chase impressed
her, and everyone else who’s seen it I suppose.
The ugly ski suit and obvious blue screen were distractions at first,
until the reveal of the rocket launcher ski pole:
“COOL!”
This was the same way
she responded to the Lotus blowing up a helicopter later on.
That’s my girl.
Maurice Binder’s title
sequences remained puzzling to her:
“Naked ladies and a
kangaroo man?”
Some things I noticed this time through:
Anya Amasova is
reluctant to engage in Jamesbonding with 007 only after she learns Bond killed
her lover…a mere three weeks prior. She
bounces back fast.
Roger Moore is
criticized sometimes for playing a 007 who avoids getting dirty or
emotional. However, his reactions
connected with the loss of Tracy are far stronger than Sean Connery’s were only
one film after it happened.
Jaws dental method of
execution solicited some loud, “EWWWWWWWWWW!” noises. And she found him scary
even without the metal teeth. (And she
hasn’t even seen him as a human eating space alien.) Still she found his crashing a car into a
house, and his multiple frustrated reactions with events that would be lethal
to anyone else highly entertaining. That didn’t stop her from greeting his
every survival with, “Really?”
Being my daughter, Q’s
arrival was greeted with a happy cheer, followed by a reaction to 70’s fashion
esthetics:
“That is an ugly suit.”
Having his lab inside of
Abu Simbel added a coolness factor that overwhelmed any amounts of plaid clothing.
My daughter is getting seasoned
at what to expect in the Bondverse.
She predicted both the
Lotus submarine conversion, and “something” hidden in Agent XXX’s cigarette.
Still, as always with
these movies, there are opportunities for education.
Some are cultural:
Such as explaining what
a whirling dervish was, after she spent a while repeating, “What the heck?”
Some connect things
she’d learned in other places:
As they walked through
the dessert, and 007 was loosening his tux and accessories she said, “That’s a
bow tie?”
She knows bow ties (and
that they are always cool) and had seen them untied in many a rumba on Dancing with the Stars. However, she
never saw the transition phase. She
thought the “dance of love” costume included a small scarf.
She also thought
wandering off through the Sahara was a terrible idea. When I asked what they
should do when the car broke down, she quickly replied:
“Wait for a camel.”
Yes, even bored, those
smart aleck genes are powerful.
Another case was when she pointed out how little sense it makes that
everyone knows not only what a spy’s favorite drink is, but that he likes it,
“Shaken not stirred.”
Her best comments came
at the end though.
As the tradition of 007
being caught Jamesbonding in the final scene continued, she said:
“Aaaaaaaand everybody’s
looking!
Nothing to see here
folks, it’s just casual Friday!”
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